


You're Going to Love It

by SidheLives



Series: Fen'Harem Fluffcember 2020 [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M, Fluffcember, Kirkwall (Dragon Age), Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27821992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidheLives/pseuds/SidheLives
Summary: "What's the rush?" Anders asked groggily, dragging a hand across his face."It's a surprise! Now get dressed!" She gave his shoulder a shove and he groaned again, dragging himself to his feet and beginning to dress as instructed."Am I going to like this surprise?" He sounded casual, but Aria's levity was catching and he felt himself speeding his preparations.Aria grinned, the manic look that often came to her eyes in the heat of bloody battle touching the edges of her irises. "You're going to love it."Written for Fen'Harem's Fluffcember 2020Prompt: Snow/Snowfall/Snowflakes
Relationships: Anders/Female Hawke, Anders/Hawke (Dragon Age)
Series: Fen'Harem Fluffcember 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035954
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13
Collections: Fen'Harem's Fluffcember 2020





	You're Going to Love It

“Anders! Anders wake up!” Aria’s voice was high pitched in delight as she shook his shoulder roughly. 

Anders rolled away from her, pulling the covers up over his head. He didn't know exactly what time it was, but he knew it was far too early to be awake. Perhaps if he resisted, made it difficult, she would abandon her forceful tactics. Maybe she would revert to using softer ones.

"Wake up you degenerate mage!" She hit him in the head with a pillow on every word.

He groaned. "I'm awake." He mumbled, voice muffled in the blankets. "How could I not be after that?"

"Good!" Aria ripped the blankets off of him and Anders reflexively curled his body against the cold which had been creeping into the mansion for weeks. "I've got your boots and your gloves and everything all ready, so get dressed!"

"But it's cold." He protested, reaching for the blankets, but she snatched them out of his reach.

"Well, then you'd better get some clothes on before you freeze to death."

Anders groaned again and at last pried his eyes open, pushing himself upright. Aria was dressed in furs and leathers, her shimmering eyes peeking out at him between a woolen scarf and matching hat. As she had said, his clothes and outdoor things were laid out at the foot of the bed, including a scarf he was sure wasn't his. Aria fairly vibrated with excitement, dancing from foot to foot as though she would perish if she dared stop moving.

"What's the rush?" Anders asked groggily, dragging a hand across his face.

"It's a surprise! Now get dressed!" She gave his shoulder a shove and he groaned again, dragging himself to his feet and beginning to dress as instructed.

"Am I going to like this surprise?" He sounded casual, but Aria's levity was catching and he felt himself speeding his preparations.

Aria grinned, the manic look that often came to her eyes in the heat of bloody battle touching the edges of her irises. "You're going to love it."

Anders felt an unspoken "or else" left off the end of her words and chuckled. Aria may have been half-mad, and after what she had been through in Fereldan and the Deep Roads it would be more expected than not, but Anders was half-mad himself, and more than that besides, and she loved him with the same ferocity that she loved fighting, and winning, and killing. The occasional crack of dawn demands for prompt dressing were a small price to pay for that kind of love.

Anders tied on his boots and tossed the mysterious scarf around his neck then presented himself for Aria's examination. "Good enough?"

"Perfect, now let's go!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of their bedroom and down through the sitting room where a fire was already burning.

"Where are we going?" He scanned the room for evidence of the estate's other occupants, attempting to gauge the time with better accuracy than "fucking early," but the room was deserted.

"Outside, obviously." Aria looked back at him, teeth gleaming. "Why would I make you get dressed for a round of tag around the estate? That would be much more enjoyable naked."

Anders knew with striking clarity that now that the idea had been put into her head he would be dragged into a naked game of tag at some point in the future. The prospect was both horrifying and titillating.

Aria threw open the front door, blasting Anders with a gust of freezing air, wiping conscious thought from his mind and leaving him disoriented. Everything went white. For a moment Anders thought the cold wind had blinded him, despite how ridiculous that would have been, then he realized they were in the streets of Hightown.

"Snow?" Everything, from the paved ground to the towering gates of the Viscount's mansion, were covered in a thick, fluffy layer of freshly fallen snow. It was still falling, catching on his eyelashes and melting as he blinked them away.

"Snow, Anders!" Aria screeched in joy. "It's snowing in Kirkwall!"

He stared up at the sky, mouth hanging open in shock. "So it is." He managed to reply. He had seen snow before in Fereldan but he never expected it to happen north of the waking sea. 

For a moment he was somewhere else: he was a child, shivering in the family barn watching flakes fall between him and the warm glow of the home his father no longer wanted him in. He was an apprentice watching the flurries swirl beyond the high Circle walls as the Chant of Light echoed out of the tower behind him. He was alone but not alone, freezing and horrified in the wildlands of Fereldan, trying desperately to reach a ship before the Wardens caught up to him.

"Anders?" Aria's voice brought him back to Kirkwall. "Love, what's wrong?" She had paused in her frolicking to stare at him. Anders didn't know what she saw in his face, but concern colored her features, eyes pinched with worry.

"I— I'm sorry. I'm just surprised is all," the lie didn't even sound convincing to his ears.

Aria came over to him and took his gloved hand, and even through the thick wool he could feel the warmth of her skin. "I thought you would be excited. It never snows here."

Anders swallowed hard.  **"** I don't really have any good memories of snow."

She squeezed his hand and leaned in to lay a kiss on his exposed cheek. "Then we'll make some."

The sun was creeping higher and spilling over the white landscape, reflecting the light to levels that threatened to blind, but Anders forced his eyes to remain open. He wanted to fix the moment in his memory. There were snowflakes caught in Aria's hair where it spilled from under her woolen hat. They landed on her cheeks and melted instantly. The brightness of her smile dwarfed that of the increasing daylight, and her brown eyes shone with enthusiasm not just for the snow itself he realized, but for the opportunity to share it with him.

He looked over the snow again, the blanket of white undisturbed by the tumult of people who were still snug in their expensive beds. Snow had always been cold and hard in Anders's eyes, harsh and unforgiving, something that took heat and joy in equal measure and gave nothing back. Aria's hand in his, he saw its softness, it's delicate fragility, and it's beauty.  _ She makes everything beautiful. _

"Anders?"

"I'd like that." He responded softly and raised her gloved hand to press gently to his face, feeling her radiating warmth against his cheek. "I love you, forever and always."

Aria's eyes lit like a warm hearth. "Forever and always." She echoed.

They kissed, and Anders felt his pained memories curl up and drift away like fallen leaves. The world may not have been just or right, but she was, and she was his.


End file.
